Tournaments

Liebherr 2017 World Table Tennis Championships

Dana Cechova causes Swede more pain, motivated by special supporter

31 May 2017

Defeat the previous day for Sweden’s Matilda Ekholm in partnership with Hungary’s Georgina Pota in the opening round of the Women’s Doubles event when the top seeds; one day later on Wednesday 31st May, she experienced the same fate in the first round of the Women’s Singles competition.

The no.18 seed, she was beaten by the Czech Republic’s Dana Cechova; having experienced a six games defeat the previous evening against the combination Ukraine’s Tetyana Bilenko and Viktoria Pavlovich of Belarus (4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11), it was a five games reverse (15-13, 5-11, 12-10, 13-11, 13-11) in her opening Women’s Singles endeavour.

Success for Dana Cechova and cheered to victory by a very special supporter; loyal to the cause, dressed in a Czech Republic shirt, her daughter raced into the arena when the final point had been clinched to give her mother a big hug.

“I enjoy playing in front of her. She always cheers and says “mummy come on and win” before the match. I am actually more relaxed when she is in the hall.” Dana Cechova

Relaxed and a reason no doubt for the surprise win.

“She is 18th seed? I didn’t realise that! I’m absolutely happy and excited to win. It was a really tough match as we are really good friends and both sides were fighting hard.” Dana Cechova.

A surprise and there was nearly an even bigger surprise as the first round of the Women’s Singles event came to a conclusion; Japan’s Mima Ito, the no.9 seed, was stretched the full seven games distance by Brazil’s Gui Lin (13-11, 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-6).

Difficult times for the ninth name in the order of merit but that was not the situation for the top eight.

In addition to Ding Ning, the top seed, who had beaten Daria Trigolos of Belarus (11-4, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4); Chinese national team colleagues all followed suit.

“Playing in the second hall was completely different from playing in the main hall. The lighting and atmosphere were completely different. For me to adjust to the hall, I needed at least 30minutes warm-up because the feeling was quite different entirely. My opponent service was very difficult so it was a bit hard for me get the feeling because this was the first time I played in the main hall. Generally I am satisfied with my performance particularly playing against a player that is ranked number seven in the world. In the second and third games, it was a bit close but overall I am okay with my performance.” Dina Meshref

The second round Women’s Singles matches will be played later in the day.